It has been found that thin films formed from the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of orthocarborane yield a high resistivity amorphous semiconducting solid which includes boron, carbon and hydrogen. Such films, however, suffer from low mobility of charge carriers and readily delaminate from substrates due to humidity and high internal stresses.
Films having a better electrical carrier transport and reduced mechanical stress would enhance the performance of devices fabricated from them. Such devices include photovoltaic cells, radiovoltaic batteries (also referred to as nuclear or nuclearvoltaic batteries), neutron detectors, thermoelectric generators, and radiation-hard electronic devices. Photovoltaic and radiovoltaic cells may be collectively referred to as voltaic cells, since they may internally generate electrical current (electrical power) in a similar manner when exposed to both photons and charged particles from radioactive sources.